FITCuba (International Tourism Fair) is the biggest tourism event in the history of Cuba and this year, hundreds of delegates from 41 countries were invited to the capital and cultural city of Havana, to find out what’s new in the destination.

This year’s 41st edition of FITCuba has been dedicated to Havana and especially to the Culture Heritage of the destination.

The world’s famous San Carlos de la Cabana fortress has been selected to host the conference that took place in May 2023.

Here’s what you need to know about Cuba 2023 offerings and destination updates:

• 51% of all tourists coming to Cuba are Canadians
• The island is expecting over 500,000 visitors for the rest of the year
• Cuba is working on increasing more flights worldwide and especially from Canada
• The new tourism focus is now Culture & Heritage
• The latest UNICA campaign is flourishing
• New curated itineraries are being created to explore Cuba’s nature and culture 
• Cuba is working on the products that will be able to attract of kinds of travellers
• A big focus is also on MICE travel and FITCuba is a great example of how well equipped Cuba is to host various conferences and big events

Cuba’s Minister of Tourism Juan Carlos Garcia Granda has organized a private lunch for Canadian tour operators and media to show the appreciation and talk about how valuable Canadian travellers are to the island’s tourism sector. As a result, Cuba is planning a summit in October and wants to invite Canadian airlines and tour operators to discuss the future of Cuba travel exclusively for Canadians.

But that’s not the end, keep reading to learn more about FITCuba highlights and new travel tools.

Iberostar’s 30th Anniversary

Iberostar Cuba Hotels & Resorts is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a new campaign called “Welcome”! Campaign seeks to convey not only the essence of the charisma of Cuba and its people, but also to encourage travellers to enjoy the island’s unique offering. Cuba is home to cities with 500+ years of history, and, of course, beautiful beaches. For more updates on Iberostar’s campaign and hotel highlights, please click here.

Passporter

Passporter is a trip planning and a route optimizer software that helps travellers to create their dream itinerary. It is number one downloaded platform in google apps and allows interact with the destination and create trips rapidly.

All you have to do is visit the platform, search Cuba and pick all activities you wish to do. When you leave the page, you will have a structured itinerary that you can easily download and share with your travel companions.

Cubanacan

Cubanacan is a travel company with over 35 years of experience and 117 hotels all around Cuba.

During FITCuba 2023, Cuabnacan revealed a launch of a new platform, creation of more sustainable products, and campaigns designed to connect with Cuban culture:

• New platform has an intuitive design
• It gives you the ability to access not only your hotel but also non-hotel products in the destination
• Cubanacan loyalty program will now provide additional advantages when booked via the company's site

Infotur

With over 30 years of experience, Infotur provides travellers with free information regarding Cuba. It consists of 3 main companies:

1. Cuba Travel – portal for Cuba tourism with over 8,000 pages. Offers information on hotels, private houses, tours, transfers, events, camping sites, currency exchange, airports, health care and more. The platform has complete information about everything Cuba
2. Infotur – offers free maps and guides
3. Cuba Maps – interactive digital tourist map. Works offline and offers more than 20,000 tourist places

These guides became the most recommended services for tourists and is being constantly updated to include the most up-to-date information.

Infotur’s main goal is to turn Cuba into an informationalized destination “because information is one of the most important aspects in tourism destination management” says Infotur.

Gaviota Group

Gaviota’s Commercial Vice President Frank País Oltuski also joined FITCuba 2023 with some updates on the company:

• Gaviota is now operating at full capacity and continues to improve all their services and offerings
• This year, the company is celebrating 35th anniversary (see video below)
• Gaviota is highlighting the newest tourist destination Cayo Paredon Grande
• Gaviota Travel Mart is now scheduled and will take place in October 2023

Culture and Heritage

Throughout all 5 days of FITCuba, the destination has been emphasizing on the importance of its culture, heritage values and importance of promoting responsible tourism. Hence FITCuba 2023 location – Havana. It is a main cultural city of Cuba with more than 100 museums and art galleries.

The Old City of Havana and its system of fortifications were declared World Heritage Cultural Site by UNESCO in 1982 for their rich historical, architectural and cultural heritage, a fusion of European, African and indigenous contributions. whc.unesco.org

As of today, there are 9 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Cuba:

Cultural (7)

• Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations in the South-East of Cuba (2000)
• Historic Centre of Camagüey (2008)
• Old Havana and its Fortification System (1982)
• San Pedro de la Roca Castle, Santiago de Cuba (1997)
• Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios (1988)
• Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos (2005)
• Viñales Valley (1999)

Natural (2)

• Alejandro de Humboldt National Park (2001)
• Desembarco del Granma National Park (1999)

Cuba is focused on preservation of its cultural values and traditions. The destination is promoting actions around the contribution to cultural heritage, consequences of climate change, sustainable tourism and importance of promoting responsible tourism.

Stay tuned for more travel tips on cultural travel in Havana!

For more information about Cuba, please visit gocuba.ca.

By Kate Ivchenko